Surgical apparatus



Aug. 2, W32. E. E. YOUNGREN SURGICAL APPARATUS Filed Feb. 10, 1950 2Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR.

E E. YEILINGREN ATTORNEY g- 2, 1932- E. E. YOUNGREN 1,869,726

SURGI CAL APPARATUS Filed Feb. 10. 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

E. E. YUUNBREN Patented Aug. 2, 1932 UNITED STATES EARL E. YOUNGREN, OFSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA SURGICAL APPARATUS Application filed February10, 1930. Serial No. 427,331

This invention relates to improvements in surgical apparatus andhasparticular ref erence to a device for use in the setting of brokenbones.

The principal object is to produce a device wherein the ends of a brokenhone may be accurately brought into alignment with each other and thenheld in this adjusted potion until the fracture has entirely knittogether.

Another object is to produce a device of this character which is readilyadjustable. and one wherein the parts may be quickly manipulated inaccordance with the wishes of the user.

A further object is to produce a device" which is relatively strong andone which will not be easily deranged when placed.

A still further object is to produce a device which is economical tomanufacture and one which may .be easily cleaned so that a sanitarycondition would exist.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of thefollowing description. 1

In the accompanying drawings formin a part of this specification and inwhich like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout thesame,

Figure I is a top plan view of my device as the same would appear in useon a broken bone,

Figure II is a side elevation of Figure I,

Figure III is a fragmentary detail perspective view on an enlarged scaleof one of the center needle holders,

Figure IV is a cross sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on theline 4-4:, and

Figure V is a similar perspective View showing one of the end needleholder clamps.

In the setting of fractured bones itoften occurs that the bone is brokendiagonally and as a consequence the pulling of the ligaments causes thebroken ends of the bones to slip past each other even after the fracturehas been set and as a result many shortened limbs occur orother-deformities and as a consequence it is sometimes necessary torebreak the fracture and reset the same. In some instances it isnecessary to hang a weight so that a pull is constantly maintained in adirection to counteract the pull ing of the ligaments. This pulling isexceedingly hard on the patients and neces'si tates lying in a fixedposition for a long 55 time.

Applicant has therefore devised a device wherein a series of needles areextended through the bone, one needle on each side of the fracture andone needle spaced a short as distance away from each side of thefracture and by connecting these needles with suit-- able clampingdevice and through the medium of certain adjustments the ends of thefractured bone may be caused to move into alignment with each other andafter being secured against further movement will be held in thisposition until the device is repioved after the fracture has completelynit.

In the accompanying drawings wherein for the purpose of illustration isshown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the letters A and B referto the two halves of a broken bone, the fracture being shown at C. Inorder to accomplish my purpose I bore through the bone, spaced holeswhich accommodate needles 5, 6, 7 and 8. The needles 6 and 7 willhereafter be termed the center needles and the needles 5 and 8 will behereafter termed the end needles. The end needles 5 and '8 are moved toand away from each other through the medium of turnbuckle arrangementsspaced on opposite sides of the bone. As these turn-buckle arrange- 8tments are identical but one will be described.

Referring to Figures I and II the numeral 9 refers to a tubular element,interiorly threaded so as to accommodate threaded offset arms 11 and1:2. These arms 11 and 12 each have pivoted to their free ends, a needleclamp as shown at 13 and 14 respectively These clamps each carry a setscrew shown at 16 and 17 respectively, which engage the end of? theneedle as it passesthrough an opening 18, (see Figure V) formed throughthe clamp. By th's arrangement when a turning tool is inserted in theopening 19 in the tubular element it will be readily understood that byrotating the tubular element the needles 5 and 8 will be moved toward oraway from each other depending upon the direction of rotation of thetubular element. This will serve to bring the ends of'the fracturetoward or away from each other so as to get the proper end to endrelation.

In order to keep the ends of the bone from pivoting upon the needles 5and 8 and thus dropping out of alignment, I provide clamps for theneedles 6 and 7 which clamps consist of blocks 21 slidable upon thetubular element 9 and provided with vertically adjustable center needleholders having a threaded shank 22 which passes through the block 21 andhas wing nuts 23 and 24 screwed thereon for the purpose of adjusting thevertical movement of the needle holder with relation to the blocks 21.This center needle holder carries a set screw 26 wh ch engages the endof the needle thus locking the needle in an adjusting position.

It will thus be seen that by the proper adjusting of the center needleholders and by manipulating the wing nuts 23 and 24 the ends of the bonemay be adjusted so that their horizontal alignment is correct. It willthus be seen that by this arrangement I have produced a device whichwill not only hold the ends of the bone spaced from each other theproper distance and one which will elimi nate the use of weight toaccomplish this object also one which will permit certain movement ofthe body without movement taking place in the fracture and one whichwill permit the ends of the bone to be brought into axial alignment aswell. It is obvious that a certain amount of horizontal movement of theends of the bone may be accom- 'plished by lengthening the turn-buckleson Having thus described my invention, I

claim:

1. In a device of the character described, comprising a pair of needlesadapted to be passed through a fractured bone at a point adjacent thefracture, a second pair of needles adapted to be positioned through abone at a point remote from said first mentioned needles, pivoted needleclamps secured tosaid second mentioned needles, ofiset arms pivotallysecured to said clamps, turn-buckles adjustably connected with theoffset arms,

blocks laterally movable on said turnbuckles, vertically adjustableneedle holders positioned in said blocks and adapted to engage saidfirst mentioned needles for the purpose specified.

2. In a device of the character described comprising a pair of needlesadapted to be positioned thru a fractured bone at a point adjacent thefracture, a second set of needles adapted to be positioned thru the boneat a point rem te from said first mentioned needles, pivoted clamps forretaining the second set of needles, off-set arms pivoted to said clampsand turnbuckles adjustably secured to said offset arms whereby theactuation of said turn buckles will move the fractured ends of saidbone, blocks slidable on said turn buckles, vert cally adjustable needleholders carried by said blocks and engaging said first mentioned needleswhereby adjustment of said needle holders will cause the ends of saidbone to be brought into axial alignment.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

EARL E. YOUNGREN.

